One of the hot favourites going into the contest is Artemisa Mithi who will make her FiK debut. She was previously a contestant on The Voice Kids. Earlier this year she competed on The Voice of Albania, where she made it to the live shows but was eliminated in week one.

Rock bands NA and LYNX are back, while the group AKULLTHYESIT makes their FiK debut.

Other FiK returning artists include Rezarta Samja & Luis Ejlli who will be performing as a duo this time, as well as Evans Rama and Voltan Prodani.

Missing from the line-up is X Factor winner Arilena Ara. Earlier in the year, she was strongly rumoured as one of the competing acts, even with the suggested that she would be the intended winner. But she won’t be taking part in FiK 56.

Festivali i Këngës 56 – competing artists

AKULLTHYESIT – “Divorci” (Divorce)

Artemisa Mithi – “E dua botën” (I love the world)

Bojken Lako – “Sytë e shpirtit” (The eyes of the soul)

David & Genc Tukiqi – “Të pandarë” (Inseperable)

Denisa Gjezo – “Zemër ku je” (Dear heart, where you are)

Elton Deda – “Fjalët” – (Words)

Ergi Bregu-Latifllari – “Bum Bum”

Eugent Bushpepa “Mall” (Yearning)

Evans Rama – “Gjurmët” (Traces)

Inest Neziri – “Piedestal” – (Pedestal)

LORELA – “Pritem edhe pak” (Wait a little longer)

LYNX – “Vonë” (Late)

Manjola Nallbani – “I njejti qiell” (The same sky)

Mariza Ikonomi – “Unë” (Me)

NA & Festina Mezini – “Tjetër jetë” (Another life)

Orgesa Zaimi – “Ngrije zërin” (Speak up)

Redon Makashi – “Ekzistoj” (I exist)

Rezarta Samja & Luis Ejlli – “Ra një yll” (A star fell)

Stefi & Endri Prifti – “Mesazh” (Message)

Tahir Gjoci – “Orë e ndaluar” (Stopped clock)

Voltan Prodani – “Pse të desha” (Why would I love you?)

Xhesika Polo – “Përjetë” (Forever)

The number of competing acts is down on previous years. In 2014, 29 acts competed, 2015 had 32 acts, while last year’s show had 27 competitors.

While the competing song titles have been revealed, it is expected that the songs won’t be revealed until the live shows.

The 22 acts will first face the semi-finals on 21 and 22 December, and then the lucky finalists will compete at the grand final on 23 December.

The winner of Festivali i Këngës 56 will be Albania’s act for Eurovision 2018. However, the winning songs traditionally receive a substantial revamp before being confirmed as the Eurovision entry.

What do you think of the Festivali i Këngës line-up? Which acts are you excited about? Can any of these acts give Albania its first Eurovision win? Tell us what you think!

Robyn Gallagher

Robyn Gallagher contributed this report from New Zealand. You can follow Robyn on Twitter @robynesc. Keep up with the latest Eurovision news and gossip by liking our Facebook page and by following the team on Twitter @wiwibloggs.

27 Comments

Inside ScoopNovember 18, 2017 @ 6:46 am

They held a conference today with singers and media. Now saying that all songs will air on radio and will be posted fully online. They asked singers to wrap up their recordings because they needed to start putting everything on YouTube. One of the disqualified entrants from the preselection (Kastro Zizo) went nuts on Top Show, he started screaming uncontrollably over not being selected for the semis. He’s saying the government censored his song because it talks about people wanting to immigrate. Flaka Krelani was also invited to talk.

It has to be said that FIK is a very outdated selection for Eurovision.
Although its tradition in Albania for FIK Albania really should move to using Kenga majia (however you spell it)
Fik is only good for dated ballads or dated rock songs unfortunately.
The last time a FIK song qualified for the final was 2012 since 2015 they changed to I’m alive.
I doubt Albania has much of a chance to do well at Eurovision unless they change.

Based on what a spokesperson from RTSH wrote in an article a few weeks ago, she said that this year there will be a lot of pop rock and that the winner will be very difficult to predict. There will also be a post-festival show after the semis and the final. She said that this year they just want a good time with good singers who can sing difficult songs and genres live, and that they won’t focus too much on Eurovision as a criteria for determining the winner. In a recent interview, the host Adi Krasta said that the jury will actually be composed of just three members, and there might not even be a points system involved, it might just be a deliberation that leads to the winner. This is likely true since established or “legendary” singers would not like to be ranked, as that can be insulting. Also he will be the only host, but he will have other guest hosts presenting entries, and there will also be a lot of interviews during the show. So that means 3-4+ hour shows. This is usually the format that director Pali Kuke and host Adi Krasta prefer when they team up to do FIK.

Bojken, Elton, Redon and Mariza are the “it’s their time to win” singers, and one of them will likely do it. Manjola, Orgesa, Xhesika, Eugent, Rezarta/Luiz are very good singers too but I don’t see them winning. They will probably have what are considered “difficult to sing entries” that usually go nowhere, along with the Stefi and Tukiqi brothers. The others are good live/pro singers, but unless they have good composers, the jury won’t give them much. Usually the public vote gives new singers a better chance, but it’s not that type of show.

Festina is back!? (Bit unsure, it could be a different artist without the ‘j’ in the surname, but what are the chances?) Although the teaming with the rock band suggests it won’t be like last year, but one can hope, eh?

I’m also a fan of rock songs, but Festina’s performance last year was so perfect I hoped the style would get a second chance this time. Maybe one day, but a good start of giving space to different music styles could be sending something else than a big ballad.

My Eurovision Scoreboard

Get wiwimail

About Us

All images on www.wiwibloggs.com are readly available on the internet and believed to be in public domain. Images posted are believed to be published according to the U.S Copyright Fair Use Act (title 17, U.S. Code.). Copyright ® 2009-2017 wiwibloggs.com. All text herein is property of the web site and may not be copied or reproduced without explicit permission.